Ostensibly a popstar, Spanish singer Rosalía is so much more. Her new album, Lux , is intellectual, experimental, and one-of-a-kind. Recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, arranged by Pulitzer- and Grammy-winning contemporary classical artist and composer Caroline Shaw, and with a cast of collaborators including Bjork, Yves Tumor, fado singer Carminho, flamenco singer Estrella Morente, Spanish singer/composer Sílvia Pérez Cruz, and American regional Mexican music trio Yahritza y su Esencia, you know this album's going to be special. Rosalía sings of faith and heartbreak, with lyrics in her native Spanish and Catalan, plus Arabic, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Mandarin, Portuguese, Sicilian, and Ukrainian. Unexpected, soaring, and stirring, this is the cinematic modern-classical-meets-experimental-pop-with-religious-undertones album of your dreams.
The transcendent, deeply affecting power of music is on full display in Other Lives new album, Volume V . Recorded in a former church, the album has a soaring, cathedral-like sound, fusing Americana with chamber pop, spaghetti western, and soaring symphonic sounds. This is a swooning, lovely album with moments of almost unearthly beauty.
Self-assured and spectacular, Blizzard is the debut from Irish indie folk artist Dove Ellis. This is no understated, slow burn folk album: Dove Ellis traffics in life's big emotions and in suitably big, bold songwriting. He plays with crescendos and moments of stillness, arranges woodwinds and horns to emulate traditional Irish folk sounds, creates tension and release with explosive guitars and brisk piano. Fans of Rufus Wainwright, Jeff Buckley, and grandiose, heartfelt songwriting will dig this one.